Anaemias of the tropics: East Africa With special reference to proteins and liver damage

Epithelial Changes in Anaemic East Africans

“…The present findings regarding the symptoms ol iron deficiency in East Africans are in agreement with the views of Foy and Kondi (1958) and Trowell (1960). The rarity of glossitis, dysphagia, and koilonychia is a striking contrast to their frequency in Great Britain, particularly in view of the high incidence and greater severity of iron deficiency.…”

“…These stigmata of chronic iron deficiency, although common in Great Britain (Witts, 1956) and Scandinavia (Lundholm, 1939), are said to be rare in East Africa despite a high incidence of severe chronic iron-deficiency anaemia (Foy and Kondi, 1958;Trowell, 1960). The present inquiry was undertaken to investigate this difference in symptomatology and to attempt a correlation with the histology of the buccal epithelium.…”

The gastric mucosa in anaemia in Punjabis: Part I In iron-deficiency anaemia

“…Foy and Kondi (1958) and Jacobs (1963) have commented upon the rarity of koilonychia and glossitis in severe iron deficiency occurring in Africa, and they also comment upon the rarity of dysphagia in iron deficiency in that Continent. In the Punjab, dysphagia is seldom a presenting symptom, but koilonychia and glossitis are by no means rare, and occurred in 46 of the 70 patients (65.7%) in the present series.…”

“…Coghill (1960), in a full review of the subject, discussed the possible relationship between gastritis and hypochromic anaemia. It has been suggested that the gastric mucosal lesion may result from iron deficiency (Witts, 1956;Badenoch, Evans, and Richards, 1957), but this view is not supported by Foy and Kondi (1960), who found that achlorhydria was rare in patients with severe iron deficiency secondary to hookworm infestation, or by Coghill (1960), who showed that atrophic gastritis occurred more frequently in patients with 'idiopathic' hypochromic anaemia, that is, in whom there was no evidence of blood loss or exceptionally low iron intake to account for the iron deficiency, than in patients suffering from chronic haemorrhage.…”

Serum Proteins and Hepatic Function in Pregnancy with Anaemia in Nigerian Women

“…The serum protein changes provide a more sensitive index of protein deficiency than haemoglobin concentration, a point clearly shown by the fact that hypoproteinaemia and hypoalbuminaemia are invariable in kwashiorkor, while anaemia is found in only a proportion of cases and severe anaemia is unusual (Trowell et al, 1954;Foy and Kondi, 1958). Protein deficiency of a degree sufficient to cause severe anaemia in pregnancy should therefore be associated with highly significant differences in total protein and in albumin concentration between anaemic and non-anaemic pregnant women.…”